Writer, director, actor Seth Green recently appeared on Larry King’s Hulu web show, Larry King Now, where he expressed his uncertainty on Ben Affleck as Batman.
A few days back, Seth Green appeared on Larry King’s Hulu series, Larry King Now. Being that Green is a self-proclaimed geek, King asked him how he felt about the Batfleck casting in Batman vs. Superman. Green, unlike most of Hollywood, actually hesitated and proceeded to launch into what appeared to be long-gestating and well-thought out concerns over Affleck’s casting. For the most part, he’s not quite protesting Affleck’s casting, he’s simply very doubtful that Affleck is the right choice simply because he doesn’t believe Affleck has the gravitas to intimidate Henry Cavill’s Supes.
Green eloquently explained:
“You’ve got to remember that at the core of that character, Batman’s a crazy person. Batman has no powers. Batman is a rich, screwed up kid whose parents were killed in front of him, who, with his money and his insanity, decided to become a vigilante symbol to combat darkness.
If this movie is meant to be the idealistic alien, humans before all else Superman, and this is supposed to be the grizzled, weathered Batman who’s been living in Gotham, fighting crime himself for 10 years, you need a guy who’s older. You need a guy who’s got more weight. You need a guy that a Henry Cavill Superman is gonna be actually scared of.
You have to remember that Batman is just a dude. He’s got no powers. So the fact that Superman is scared of him says something about the gravitas he carries. And it’s not just because he’s willing to kill. It’s because he’s scary.”
When King tried to defend Affleck’s prowess as an actor, Green used an analogy to explain how Affleck doesn’t seem to physically fit the role, the same way Green wouldn’t be fit for the role of an MMA fighter facing off against Batista.
Check out the video below:
The day after the interview was posted, we saw Green do a little damage control. He eventually posted on his WhoSay account:
Attached to this photo was the caption, “For the record, I actually think Ben Afleck [sic] is a great actor, fantastic writer & excellent director.”
Aside from the fans, let’s not forget that Adult Swim, the channel that airs his Robot Chicken series, is owned by Time Warner.
Although I am a mild supporter of Batfleck, taking a neutral stance on the whole matter until we see some footage of the man wearing the cowl, I can’t argue with such an eloquent explanation. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but for the most part, he makes a very good point. To be fair, Affleck is three inches taller than Cavill and can get pretty large, if he needs to, making Green’s point on physicality kinda moot. Also, one of Batman’s biggest principles is that he’s NOT willing to kill, but rather he won’t save certain people (or sacrifice some people) if it’s for the greater good… even that varies depending on the writer, so I’m not quite sure where Green was going for in that argument.
What do you think? Do you agree with his points? Or do you think he has no idea what he’s talking about? Let me know.
Source – Hulu, WhoSay (via Comicbook.com and Cosmicbooknew.com)
Adam Poncharoensub is a blogger, movie critic, and Born-Again Batman fan. When he’s not chained to his desk writing, being whipped by his muse, he likes to spend his days spreading the gospel of the Dark Knight in the treacherous suburbs of Miami or working under Dropping Loads Productions, where he co-hosts a comedy podcast and produces sketches.
